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If someone had told me three years ago that I would be “a sorority girl,” I honestly would have been offended- womp. I had an idea, a label, in my head about what being in a sorority meant, and thought I was far above labels, stereotypes, silly dramatic girl things, etc. Can we tell I had some growing to do ‘:)

Now I am looking at my last year as an active “sorority girl” in ChiO, and truly am so proud to have worn that label and those letters for the last three years. So what changed?

What changed was that I saw ChiO in terms of her people instead of her organization. What changed was seeing ChiO, yes as a sorority, but ultimately as friendships and conversations facilitated by meetings, families, date parties, ritual, etc. And those people, friendships, and conversations have been such a huge contributor to my fun and my growth in college- wow yep.

To any readers, in talking about ChiO I would have to share my favorite lesson ChiO has taught me- what it means to be part of a body. I came into ChiO freshman year with giant question marks radiating off of me- Who am I? Where do I fit? How do I do social things without anyone from back home? What’s my pace? What are my strengths? You get the picture… insecurity and “seeking” out the wazoo. Coming into ChiO was a lot like going into a Black Friday rush at the mall- so much was going on, and different personality traits and strengths were being ‘sold’ all around me. I was seeing loud personalities celebrated here; artsiness there, depth over there, etc. And I was slightly freaking out because I wanted this, that, her, other her, etc. and had no idea how to determine what was good for others vs. what was good for me.

ChiO has been the main setting where I’ve gotten to start really figuring that out. It’s been a three-year, every day journey... going on four. Honestly I’m still amazed at how I’ve been loved along the way- because its hard to love insecurity. But the gals in ChiO have listened to countless word vomits as I verbal processed, spoken truth into my journey, and extended tons of grace to me as I’ve floundered through repeated trial and error trying to find the strengths, weaknesses, personality, etc. that the Lord wired into Kaylee Kaigler. He knew I would attend Texas A&M and choose to run among ChiO’s circles for my time here. And He wanted the Kaylee He created in those circles, not a Kaylee dictated by the circles themselves. He used ChiO to bring me to 1 Corinthians 12 where it talks about the body of Christ-

“But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body…

… that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”

Honestly I think the Lord got a kick out of having Paul use “members” language in that passage, knowing that one day the analogy would have special significance for sorority gals and club membership in general- dope! But truly, He brought 1 Cor 12 to life for me through ChiO. Its where I have gotten to see girls jump in, suffer, and bear with their friends; see girls give celebration and honor to other girls who have strengths that they themselves do not; and see girls come together and use our variety of strengths to pull off things that move mountains and make differences. So you can call me a sorority gal anytime, bc this^^^^ is what that label has meant for me ;)

P.S. Food for thought on the idea of labels, txt me if you want to talk more!

“When I label people, I no longer have to deal with them thoughtfully. I no longer have to feel overwhelmed by their complexity, the lives they live, the dreams they have. I know exactly where they are inside- or forever outside- my field of care, because they’ve been taken care of. The mystery of their existence has been solved and filed away before I’ve had a chance to be moved by them or even begun to catch a glimpse of who they might be. They’ve been neutralized. There’s hardly any action quite so undemanding, so utterly unimaginative, as the affixing of a label. It’s the costliest of mental shortcuts.” –David Dark